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German rail chaos continues after two failed attempts to prevent strikes

After Deutsche Bahn twice failed to get an emergency injunction against the strikers, the German Train Drivers' Union (GDL) is continuing its six-day walk-out - with negotiations between the two parties due to take place on Friday.

Published: 3 September 2021 10:56 CEST
Updated: 3 September 2021 14:26 CEST
German rail chaos continues after two failed attempts to prevent strikes
An ICE train arrives at a near-empty Hannover station on September 2nd, the day after the start of the strikes. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Michael Matthey

Deutsche Bahn had brought the case to court on Thursday in an attempt to secure an early end to the union’s marathon strike action, which is due to run until Tuesday. 

The railway company had argued that the strike was not “within the relevant legal framework”, but judges at the Labour Court in Frankfurt refused the application to delay the strikes.

While the railway company vowed to appeal against the ruling, GDL put out a statement on Friday morning to confirm the continuation of the work stoppage.

READ ALSO: Deutsche Bahn seeks emergency court injunction against rail strikes

“We were aware that the hurdles in summary proceedings are very high and that the right to strike is very much protected in Germany, with good reason,” a DB spokeswoman said on Thursday evening. In the interest of the customers, she added, no stone would be left unturned to end the strike.

But after judges rejected its appeal on Friday morning, Deutsche Bahn has been out of options in its fights to postpone the strike action.

‘Completely excessive’

“No matter what the outcome is today, we have to try,” DB spokesman Achim Stauß also told ARD’s Morgenmagazin on Friday morning, ahead of the court judgement. “Because this strike is unspeakable, it is completely excessive – also in its length.”

The GDL leadership urgently needs to give up its blockade attitude, he added.

For the time being, however, the strike will continue.

Around 40 percent of trains in regional and suburban rail services are currently running, the company announced on Friday morning.

Due to the varying participation in the strike, the timetable varies regionally: as in the previous strikes, disruptions are expected to be greater in the eastern federal states and some metropolitan regions where union membership is higher.

READ ALSO:

For the weekend, Deutsche Bahn expects a slight increase in the timetable for long-distance services from 25 to 30 percent, and is recommending that people who need to travel this week postpone their trips to make the most of weekend morning services. 

On Saturday and Sunday, long-distance trains will also run between Rostock, Berlin and Dresden. But according to Deutsche Bahn, travellers should expect long delays, cancellations and packed-out trains in the coming days.

For that reason, they say, customers should delay their journeys and consider using their ticket at a later date.

Defeat in court  

The strike is proving to be a test of patience not only for some passengers, but also for the company after its second defeat in court.

With its application for an interim injunction, Deutsche Bahn was hoping to end the latest in a wave of strikes and call off what is set to be one of the longest periods of industrial action in DB’s history. 

In its months-long standoff, GDL has been calling for a 1.4-percent pay hike and a bonus of €600 for 2021, as well as a further wage rise of 1.8 percent in 2022, while Deutsche Bahn wants to bring in pay increases in stages after a wage freeze this year. 


Claus Weselsky, head of the German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL) wants all his demands to be met before calling off the strikes. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/dpa-Zentralbild | Sebastian Willnow

The rail operator alleged made an improved offer to GDL on Wednesday, but this was rejected by the union, who said they wanted all their demands to be met before calling off the strikes.

READ ALSO: German train drivers plan third wave of strikes starting Wednesday

Claus Weselsky, the chairman of the GDL, also rejected the railway’s offer because it would not apply to all GDL members. According to him, the state-owned company is demanding that the scope of a new collective agreement be limited to driving staff, as has been the case so far.

“This makes it clear that DB wants to deprive some of the GDL members of their constitutional rights,” the trade unionist told Spiegel. This would threaten to split the union by dividing people into first- and second-class members, he said. 

Since Thursday morning, there has been a nationwide strike in the passenger transport sector of the railway. The strike began on Wednesday afternoon, initially in freight transport, and is due to end after five days on Tuesday.

Member comments

  1. I was excited to use more public transport when I first moved, but constant strikes by bus drivers and train drivers left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I bought a car and enjoy the freedom and reliability it affords me.

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TRAVEL NEWS

German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

Germany's Deutsche Bahn rail operator and the GDL train drivers' union have reached a deal in a wage dispute that has caused months of crippling strikes in the country, the union said.

Published: 26 March 2024 09:55 CET
German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

“The German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL) and Deutsche Bahn have reached a wage agreement,” GDL said in a statement.

Further details will be announced in a press conference on Tuesday, the union said. A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn also confirmed that an agreement had been reached.

Train drivers have walked out six times since November, causing disruption for huge numbers of passengers.

The strikes have often lasted for several days and have also caused disruption to freight traffic, with the most recent walkout in mid-March.

In late January, rail traffic was paralysed for five days on the national network in one of the longest strikes in Deutsche Bahn’s history.

READ ALSO: Why are German train drivers launching more strike action?

Europe’s largest economy has faced industrial action for months as workers and management across multiple sectors wrestle over terms amid high inflation and weak business activity.

The strikes have exacerbated an already gloomy economic picture, with the German economy shrinking 0.3 percent across the whole of last year.

What we know about the new offer so far

Through the new agreement, there will be optional reduction of a work week to 36 hours at the start of 2027, 35.5 hours from 2028 and then 35 hours from 2029. For the last three stages, employees must notify their employer themselves if they wish to take advantage of the reduction steps.

However, they can also opt to work the same or more hours – up to 40 hours per week are possible in under the new “optional model”.

“One thing is clear: if you work more, you get more money,” said Deutsche Bahn spokesperson Martin Seiler. Accordingly, employees will receive 2.7 percent more pay for each additional or unchanged working hour.

According to Deutsche Bahn, other parts of the agreement included a pay increase of €420 per month in two stages, a tax and duty-free inflation adjustment bonus of €2,850 and a term of 26 months.

Growing pressure

Last year’s walkouts cost Deutsche Bahn some €200 million, according to estimates by the operator, which overall recorded a net loss for 2023 of €2.35 billion.

Germany has historically been among the countries in Europe where workers went on strike the least.

But since the end of 2022, the country has seen growing labour unrest, while real wages have fallen by four percent since the start of the war in Ukraine.

German airline Lufthansa is also locked in wage disputes with ground staff and cabin crew.

Several strikes have severely disrupted the group’s business in recent weeks and will weigh on first-quarter results, according to the group’s management.

Airport security staff have also staged several walkouts since January.

Some politicians have called for Germany to put in place rules to restrict critical infrastructure like rail transport from industrial action.

But Chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected the calls, arguing that “the right to strike is written in the constitution… and that is a democratic right for which unions and workers have fought”.

The strikes have piled growing pressure on the coalition government between Scholz’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business FDP, which has scored dismally in recent opinion polls.

The far-right AfD has been enjoying a boost in popularity amid the unrest with elections in three key former East German states due to take place later this year.

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